CN1307494C - Waste toner storage device and dry electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a waste toner storage device and a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the same. The waste toner storing device includes a waste toner container for containing waste toner generated during printing, and a distributing member located in the waste toner container and dispersing the waste toner in the waste toner container by rotation thereof.

Description

Waste toner storage device and dry electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the same

technical field

The present invention relates to a dry electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a dry electrophotographic image forming apparatus having a waste toner storage device for storing waste toner generated in an image forming process.

Background technique

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus completes image printing by forming an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive medium, developing the electrostatic latent image using a developer, and transferring the developed image to printing paper through a predetermined transfer medium. Among different types of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, those using powdered toner as a developer are called dry electrophotographic image forming apparatuses.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a dry electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes: a photosensitive drum 10 as a photosensitive medium; a charger 13 for charging the photosensitive drum 10; an exposure unit 12 for scanning light onto the charged photosensitive drum 10 to form an electrostatic latent image; A developing unit 11 that supplies an electrostatic latent image with toner to form a toner image; a transfer unit 16 that transfers the toner image onto a sheet of printing paper S; and heat-presses the printing paper S to fix the toner image to the printing paper Fusing unit 17 on S.

In the image forming apparatus described above, since a part of the toner adhering to the electrostatic latent image is not transferred onto the printing paper S but substantially remains on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10, it must be removed before the next printing operation is performed. The remaining toner is removed from the photosensitive drum 10 . Reference numeral 14 designates a cleaning element. The cleaning member 14 is in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 and scrapes off the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 10 . The waste toner removed from the photosensitive drum 10 is collected in a container, which is designated by a reference numeral 18, and is conveyed into a waste toner container 20 by a transfer unit 15 installed in the container 18. .

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the waste toner container 20 shown in FIG. 1 in detail.

Referring to FIG. 2 , one end of the transfer unit 15 is fixed to an inlet 21 of the waste toner container 20 through which waste toner T transferred from the container 18 by the transfer unit 15 enters the waste toner container 20 . The waste toner falls freely into the waste toner container 20 by gravity and accumulates therein. However, the waste toner T is not uniformly dispersed in the waste toner container 20 and most of the waste toner T is accumulated at the lower portion of the inlet 21 . If the waste toner T is piled up to the upper part of the inlet 21 as shown in FIG. The toner T is clogged, and the waste toner container 20 cannot hold the waste toner T any longer. As a result, the waste toner T removed from the photosensitive drum 10 cannot be conveyed into the waste toner container 20 but is accumulated in the container 18 . However, if the capacity of the container 18 for containing the waste toner is exceeded, the waste toner T leaks from the container 18, resulting in contamination of the image forming apparatus.

In order to prevent such a problem, a first method of requiring the user to shake the waste toner container 20 periodically in order to scatter the waste toner T, and a second method of installing a separate waste toner container driving device (not shown) are proposed. method, wherein the drive means disperses the waste toner T in the waste toner container 20 by vibrating the waste toner container 20 . However, in the first method, since the user has to remember the period of scattering the waste toner T, this method is inconvenient for the user. If the user forgets the period for dispensing the waste toner T, the waste toner T may leak.

In addition, in the second method, in the case of vibrating the waste toner container 20, one end of the delivery unit 15 may be separated from the inlet 21, so that the waste toner T delivered from the container 18 cannot enter the waste toner container 20. , thereby contaminating the inside of the imaging device.

Contents of the invention

The present invention provides an improved dry electrophotographic imaging waste toner storage device capable of uniformly distributing waste toner in a waste toner container without vibrating the waste toner container, and also provides a A dry electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the above device.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be described in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste toner storage device of a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising: a waste toner container for accommodating waste toner that is produced after using dry toner by an electrophotographic method; Produced in a printing unit that prints an image on printing paper; and a distributing member located inside a waste toner container that disperses waste toner in the waste toner container by its rotation, wherein the distributing member is associated with the The paper feed cassette of the unit's printing paper is coupled, and this coupling makes the distribution element rotate during the installation/removal of the paper feed cassette.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dry-type electrophotographic image forming apparatus, which includes: a printing unit for printing an image on printing paper with dry toner by an electrophotographic method; a paper feeding cassette; and a waste toner storage device for storing waste toner generated in the printing unit, wherein the waste toner storage device includes a waste toner container containing waste toner and a distribution member inside the waste toner container , the distributing element disperses waste toner in the waste toner container by its rotation, wherein the distributing element is coupled with the paper feeding box, and the coupling makes the distributing element installed/distributed in the paper feeding box Rotate during disassembly.

The image forming apparatus also includes a paper feed cassette, which is attached to/removable from the printing unit to accommodate printing paper supplied to the printing unit, and the distribution member is connected to the paper feed cassette so as to be attached to/removable from the paper feed cassette. Rotate during operation.

The distribution member may include a rotation shaft inside the waste toner container and a plurality of spiral protrusions disposed on the rotation shaft to disperse the waste toner.

Description of drawings

With reference to the accompanying drawings, these and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more clear and easy to understand through the description of the preferred embodiments. In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of a dry electrophotographic image forming apparatus;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the waste toner container shown in Figure 1;

3 is a schematic view showing an example of a dry electrophotographic image forming apparatus using a waste toner storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the waste toner storage device shown in Fig. 3 .

Detailed ways

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, examples of which are shown, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

3, the printing unit 200 of the image forming apparatus includes: a photosensitive drum 100 as a photosensitive medium; a charger 110 for charging the photosensitive drum; a laser scanning unit (LSU) as an exposure unit for scanning light onto the charged photosensitive drum. On the drum 100, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image of a desired image; a developing unit 130 for developing the electrostatic latent image by using a powder state toner having yellow (Y), magenta (M) , four colors of cyan (C) and black (K); a transfer unit having a transfer belt 140 for sequentially superimposing the toner images of the four colors formed on the photosensitive drum 100 and transferring the superimposed image to on the printing paper S; and a fixing unit 150 for thermally pressing the printing paper S and fixing an image on the printing paper S. Reference numeral 170 designates a photosensitive drum cleaning device, reference numeral 180 designates a static elimination device, and reference numeral 160 designates a transfer belt cleaning device. A paper feeding cassette 300 for supplying printing paper is installed at a lower portion of the printing unit 200 . The paper feeding cassette 300 is installed so as to be detachable from the printing unit 200 so as to accommodate a large amount of printing paper.

In the above structure, a color image is formed as follows. First, if the photosensitive drum 100 is charged by the charger 110, the LSU 120 scans light onto the photosensitive drum 100 to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to a first color to be developed. For example, if yellow (Y) is decided as the first color, the developing unit 130-Y corresponding to yellow approaches the photosensitive drum 100 and develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 110 with yellow toner, thereby forming yellow toner image. The yellow toner image thus formed is then transferred to the transfer belt 140 .

Next, by performing charging and exposure to the photosensitive drum 100, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the second color to be developed is formed. For example, if magenta (M) is decided as the second color, the developing unit 130-M corresponding to magenta approaches the photosensitive drum 100 and develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 100 with magenta toner, thereby forming Magenta toner image. The magenta image thus formed is then superimposed and transferred onto a transfer belt 140 onto which the yellow image has been transferred. Cyan and black are sequentially developed and transferred using the method described above, thereby forming a final image of desired color on the transfer belt 140 . Thereafter, the color image thus formed is transferred onto printing paper S, which is supplied from the paper feed cassette 300 between the transfer belt 140 and the transfer backup roller 140a, and is heat-pressed while passing through the fixing unit 150, thereby Completely fix the color image on the paper S.

In the above-described image forming process, when the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum 100 to the transfer belt 140 or from the transfer belt 140 to the printing paper S, a part of the toner used to form the image is not is transferred and remains on the photosensitive drum 100 and the transfer belt 140 . The residual toner must be removed before the next printing job. For this removal work, a cleaning unit 170 for the photosensitive drum 100 and a cleaning unit 160 for the transfer belt 140 are provided.

The cleaning unit 170 for the photosensitive drum 100 removes toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 100 after the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum 100 to the transfer belt 140 . The cleaning unit 170 for the photosensitive drum 100 includes: a first cleaning member 171 contacting the surface of the photosensitive drum 100; a first container 173 for temporarily collecting the removed waste toner T; The first transfer unit 172 of the waste toner container 400 . The cleaning unit 160 for the transfer belt 140 removes toner remaining on the surface of the transfer belt 141 after the toner image is transferred from the transfer belt 140 onto the printing paper S. The cleaning unit 160 for the transfer belt 140 includes: a second cleaning member 161 contacting the surface of the transfer belt 140; a second container 163 for temporarily collecting waste toner T; The second transfer unit 162 of the toner container 400 . The waste toner T removed from the photosensitive drum 100 and the transfer belt 140 is collected into the first container 173 and the second container 163 , and is transferred to the waste toner container 400 by the first transfer unit 172 and the second transfer unit 162 .

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the waste toner storage device shown in Fig. 3 .

As shown in FIG. 4 , the waste toner storage device includes: a waste toner container 400 provided with a first inlet 410 and a second inlet 420 ; and a distribution member 430 installed in the waste toner container 400 . One end of the first transfer unit 172 and one end of the second transfer unit 162 are fitted to the first inlet 410 and the second inlet 420, respectively. Therefore, the waste toner T is transferred from the first container 173 and the second container 163 to the waste toner container 400 through the first inlet 410 and the second inlet 420, respectively. The distribution member 430 includes a rotating shaft 431 rotatably installed in the waste toner container 400 and a plurality of spiral wings 432 formed on the rotating shaft 431 . The first gear 440 is coupled with one end of the rotating shaft 431 protruding from the waste toner container 400 . The first gear 440 is an example of a power transmission unit of the rotation distribution member 430 .

The distribution element 430 does not have to rotate all the time. On the contrary, it is preferable that the distribution member 430 is rotated occasionally in order to disperse the accumulated waste toner T when a considerable amount of waste toner T is accumulated near the inlets 410 and 420 . Figure 4 shows this preferred embodiment of the invention. The distribution element 430 is configured to rotate interlock with the movement of the paper feed cassette 300 . A rack 310 is formed on one side of the paper feed cassette 300 along the moving direction of the paper feed cassette 300 , and the rack gear 310 is engaged with a pinion gear 320 . The first gear 440 is connected with the pinion gear 320 through the driven gears 330 , 340 and 350 .

In the above structure, as shown in FIG. 4, if the paper feeding cassette 300 is pulled out along the A direction to fill the printing paper, the horizontal movement of the rack 310 is converted into a rotational movement through the pinion 320, and the rotational movement is transmitted to the first gear 440, thereby rotating the distribution element 430. As shown in FIG. 4 , if the paper feeding cassette 300 is pushed in the direction B after filling the printing paper, the distribution member 430 rotates in a direction opposite to the direction in which the paper feeding cassette 300 is pulled out. If the distributing member 430 rotates in two directions, the waste toner accumulated near the inlets 410 and 420 will be conveyed by the screw wing 432 in two directions, as shown in D in FIG. 4 . Thus, since the waste toner T is uniformly dispersed inside the waste toner container 400, clogging of the inlets 410 and 420 can be prevented. Since the paper feeding cassette 300 can generally be filled with 100 to 250 sheets of printing paper, the waste toner accumulated in the waste toner container 400 is redistributed once every printing cycle of 100 to 250 sheets.

In addition to the above structure, the first gear 440 may be connected to a separate driving device (not shown) having a driving motor (not shown) for rotating the distribution member 430, or may be connected to a driving device (not shown) for driving the photosensitive drum 100 and On the driving device (not shown) of the transfer belt 140 . Devices other than gears, such as belts, can also be used as the power transfer unit.

Although a color image forming apparatus using a transfer belt as a transfer unit is described in this embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the waste toner storage device according to the present invention can be used in most electrophotographic image forming apparatuses using dry toner. Therefore, the waste toner storage device according to the present invention can be used not only in color image forming apparatuses but also in monochrome image forming apparatuses.

As described above, the waste toner storage device of the dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the present invention has several advantages, some of which are listed below:

First, since the waste toner is conveyed in two directions by rotating the distribution member installed inside the waste toner container instead of vibrating the waste toner container, it is possible to prevent the inlet of the waste toner container from being blocked;

Second, since the distributing member rotates only inside the waste toner container, and the waste toner container itself does not vibrate with the distributing member, it is possible to prevent the first and second inlets from being connected to the first and second transfer units of the waste toner container. Separated from each other, thereby avoiding leakage of the waste toner container.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those skilled in the art should recognize that the embodiments can be improved and changed without departing from the principle and spirit of the present invention. The scope of protection is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims (10)

1. the wasted toner storing apparatus of a dry type electrophotographic image forming comprises:

Hold the waste toner container (400) of useless ink powder, this useless ink powder is to produce in order to the print unit that utilizes dry toner print image on printer paper by electrophotographic method; And

Be positioned at the distributed component (430) of waste toner container inboard, this distributed component disperses useless ink powder by its rotation and in the waste toner container inboard,

Wherein, distributed component (430) is coupled with the paper feeding box (300) that holds the printer paper that will supply with print unit, and this is coupled and makes distributed component rotate in the attaching/detaching process of paper feeding box.

2. wasted toner storing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein, distributed component comprises:

Be positioned at the turning axle (431) of waste toner container inboard; And

A plurality of being arranged on the turning axle to disperse the spiral salient (432) of useless ink powder.

3. wasted toner storing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, also comprise along the attaching/detaching direction of paper feeding box and be arranged on tooth bar (310) on the paper feeding box (300), when attaching/detaching paper feeding box, distributed component (430) is by the power rotation of transmitting through tooth bar (310).

4. wasted toner storing apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein, distributed component comprises:

Be positioned at the waste toner container inboard, by the turning axle (431) of described tooth bar rotation; And

A plurality ofly be installed on the turning axle, to disperse the spiral salient (432) of useless ink powder.

5. wasted toner storing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 also comprises the gear (440) on the end that is connected to distributed component, and an end of described distributed component reaches the outside of waste toner container;

Wherein distributed component is rotated to the power that described gear (440) transmits by the tooth bar (310) from paper feeding box (300).

6. dry type electrophotographic image forming comprises:

Utilize the print unit (200) of dry toner print image on printer paper by xerography;

The wasted toner storing apparatus of the useless ink powder that produces in the storage print unit;

The paper feeding box (300) that holds the printer paper that will supply with print unit,

Wherein, described wasted toner storing apparatus comprises:

The waste toner container (400) that holds useless ink powder; And

Distributed component (430) in the waste toner container inboard, this distribution unit disperses useless ink powder by self rotation in waste toner container,

Wherein, described distributed component (430) is coupled mutually with described paper feeding box (300), and this is coupled and makes distributed component rotate in the attaching/detaching process of paper feeding box.

7. dry type electrophotographic image forming as claimed in claim 6, wherein, distributed component comprises:

The turning axle of waste toner container inboard (431); And

A plurality of being arranged on the turning axle to disperse the spiral salient (432) of useless ink powder.

8. dry type electrophotographic image forming as claimed in claim 6 also comprises tooth bar (310);

Wherein, described tooth bar (310) is formed in the paper feeding box along the attaching/detaching direction of paper feeding box, and, the power rotation that distributed component (430) is transmitted by attaching/detaching paper feeding box hour rack.

9. dry type electrophotographic image forming as claimed in claim 8, wherein, distributed component comprises:

Waste toner container inboard and the turning axle (431) that rotates by tooth bar (310); And

A plurality of being installed on the turning axle to disperse the spiral salient (432) of useless ink powder.

10. dry type electrophotographic image forming as claimed in claim 8 also comprises gear (440);

Wherein, distributed component (430) is rotated to the power that described gear (440) transmits by the tooth bar (310) from paper feeding box (300).

Images